Shay Bottomley Blogs

“I’ll pick you up at 6:45am,” was a message A) I had never received from Ethan Taylor before and B) I would never like to receive again. The reason for the early arrival would be the Furze Platt Senior School annual ‘Muck Up Day’ ‘Celebration Day,’ the last day of term which would also the last day of our school careers. Popular in America where departing students would vandalise decorate the school each year, the tradition made its way across the pond to Furze Platt a few years ago, although judging by the state of the Sixth Form block on Thursday evening it may end up being sent back! The Sixth Form study room had seen far better days... The first record of the day would be set with a 5:55am alarm clock, a time alien to myself and many of our accomplices. Despite usually being reserved for Grand Prix only, the early awakening allowed me to catch a lift from Ethan to the school to finish preparations for the day ahead. We would be joined by Henry and Patrick, ...

The Village People famously wrote a song about the Navy, ‘In the Navy’, that was once featured in an episode of the Simpsons from 1998. 20 years later, yours truly and the Baldwin household would be joining approximately 400 people in congratulating the newest set of Royal Navy officers at HMS Raleigh in Plymouth Torpoint, Cornwall. We would be travelling down from the Royal Borough to support a very good friend in the form of Anthony Osborn, who was due to complete 10 weeks of basic training the following day. Four hours down the M4, M5 and A38 would follow, arriving at the Number One B&B for 8:00pm; a nice hotel that would be our home for as little as 12 hours due to previous booking calamities… A few pints were in order after such a journey, accompanying a Nando’s at level of heat that even Ethan from the Prague blog struggled to believe (admittedly, it was only a medium). A few pints in the Brass Monkey and the Slug & Lettuce, the latter of which was reminisc...